How To Sing In Your Head Voice

Develop a strong, resonant head voice that allows you to sing high notes with power and clarity, creating a connected, seamless upper range for classical and contemporary styles.

Understanding Head Voice

Head voice is a vocal register that allows you to sing in your upper range with a fuller, more connected quality than falsetto. In head voice, your vocal cords thin and lengthen, but maintain better closure than in falsetto, creating more power and resonance. The term "head voice" comes from the sensation of vibration felt primarily in the head and face rather than the chest. Developing a strong head voice is essential for accessing your full vocal range, creating smooth transitions between registers, and singing high notes without strain. While traditionally emphasized in classical singing, head voice is increasingly important in contemporary styles for both male and female singers.

Head Voice vs. Falsetto: Understanding the Difference

While there's debate about whether head voice and falsetto are the same register, most modern voice pedagogy recognizes them as related but distinct qualities. Head voice maintains fuller vocal cord closure and creates a stronger, more resonant sound, while falsetto is lighter and breathier with less cord contact. Think of them as existing on a spectrum: falsetto on the light, breathy end, and full head voice on the stronger, more connected end.

Practical Distinction: If your high notes sound breathy and weak, that's likely falsetto. If they sound clear, resonant, and full (though lighter than chest voice), that's head voice. Your goal is developing the ability to use both qualities depending on musical needs.

Head Voice Characteristics

• Clear, resonant tone (not breathy)
• Vibration felt in head, face, and nasal cavities
• Fuller, more powerful than falsetto
• Natural for upper range singing
• Vocal cords stay connected/closed
• Essential for classical technique
• Can blend with chest voice for mixed voice

Benefits of Developing Head Voice

• Access higher notes without strain
• Create smooth register transitions
• Sing with power in upper range
• Reduce vocal fatigue and injury risk
• Develop full, connected range
• Essential for opera, musical theater, pop
• Improves overall vocal coordination

How to Develop Strong Head Voice

Finding Your Head Voice

Start with a gentle hum on a comfortable pitch in your upper-middle range. Feel the vibration in your face and head. Now, open to an "oo" vowel while maintaining that same placement and vibration. This is head voice—it should feel light but not breathy, resonant but not heavy. Try gently sighing on high pitches with an "ng" sound (as in "sing"), then opening to vowels. The forward, nasal quality helps establish proper head voice placement.

Key Sensation:

Head voice feels like the sound is resonating in your head and face, particularly behind your nose and in your forehead. There's minimal chest vibration. It should feel easy and released, not pushed or strained.

Descending Exercises (Top-Down Approach)

One of the most effective ways to develop head voice is working from the top down. Start on a high, comfortable note in pure head voice (where your voice naturally wants to be light) and descend on 5-note scales: sol-fa-mi-re-do. Use vowels like "oo," "ee," or "oh." The goal is to maintain the light, head voice quality as you descend, resisting the urge to flip back to chest voice. This builds strength and extends head voice lower.

Practice Plan:

Women: Start around A4-C5. Men: Start around E4-G4. Gradually work lower over weeks, maintaining head voice quality. This might feel strange at first—persist with patience.

Forward Placement Exercises

Head voice requires forward, bright placement in the "mask" (face/nasal area). Practice humming with lips lightly closed, feeling strong vibration in your nose and face. Then, sing "nay-nay-nay" on ascending scales. The bright "ay" vowel and nasal "n" naturally encourage forward placement. Keep all vowels bright and forward—avoid any dark, throaty quality which pulls the sound back and creates tension.

Visualization:

Imagine the sound bouncing off your hard palate (roof of mouth) and exiting through your nose and forehead, not through your mouth and throat. This mental image helps achieve proper placement.

Strengthening Cord Closure

Head voice requires good vocal cord closure to avoid breathiness. Practice staccato (short, detached) notes on "hee-hee-hee" in your head voice range. The quick onset of each note encourages proper cord closure. Then, sustain notes on "ee" and "ay" vowels, focusing on clear, non-breathy tone. If your head voice sounds too airy, you need more cord connection. Work with voiced consonants like "z," "v," or "ng" which naturally create closure.

Balance Point:

You want enough cord closure for clear tone, but not so much that you create tension. Head voice should always feel light and easy, never gripped or squeezed.

Connecting Registers with Sirens

Once you can access head voice reliably, work on smoothing transitions between chest and head voice. Do siren exercises (sliding from low to high and back) on "oo," "ng," or lip trills. Allow the natural register change to occur, but work to make it as smooth as possible with no sudden breaks or quality changes. Over time, this develops mixed voice—a blend of chest and head qualities that creates a seamless range.

Advanced Goal:

Eventually, you should be able to choose: pure head voice for a light, classical quality OR mixed voice for a fuller, more contemporary sound. Both are valuable skills.

Common Head Voice Challenges and Solutions

Challenge: Head Voice Sounds Breathy and Weak

Solution: You need more vocal cord closure. Practice with consonants that naturally bring cords together: "ng," "n," "z," "v." Start with these sounds, then open to vowels while maintaining the connected feeling. Also try staccato exercises which encourage quick, clean cord closure.

Challenge: Can't Access Head Voice—Always Flips to Falsetto

Solution: You're likely releasing too much air and allowing cords to separate completely. Work on the "ng" sound which naturally creates cord contact, then gradually open to vowels. Practice with more volume (but not forcing)—head voice needs more energy than whisper-soft singing.

Challenge: Head Voice Feels Strained or Tight

Solution: You're likely pushing chest voice too high or creating throat tension. Go back to gentle humming and sighing in your upper range. Head voice should always feel easy and released. Focus on forward placement and reduce volume—tension often comes from trying to sing too loudly.

Challenge: Obvious Break Between Chest and Head Voice

Solution: Practice extensive siren exercises to smooth the transition. Also work on descending from head voice, maintaining that quality as you go lower. The break will always exist to some degree, but you can learn to navigate it smoothly. Mixed voice development is key here.

Good Head Voice Feels/Sounds Like:

✓Light and easy, never forced or strained
✓Clear, resonant tone (not breathy)
✓Strong vibration in face, head, and nasal area
✓Can project and be heard clearly
✓No throat tension or discomfort
✓Can be sustained without fatigue

Head Voice Problems:

✗Sounds breathy, weak, or unfocused
✗Feels tight, squeezed, or strained
✗Completely disconnected from chest voice (huge break)
✗Cannot be accessed consistently or reliably
✗Causes throat pain or vocal fatigue

Essential Head Voice Tips

• Head voice development takes months of patient, consistent practice
• Work from the top down—start high where head voice is natural
• Forward placement (mask/face) is essential—avoid throaty, dark tone
• Balance cord closure: enough for clarity, not so much you create tension
• Never force or push—head voice should always feel light and easy
• Both men and women need strong head voice, though it feels different
• Classical singers often use pure head voice; contemporary singers often blend it with chest
• Working with a qualified voice teacher accelerates development significantly